TY - JOUR
T1 - Farallon slab detachment and deformation of the Magdalena Shelf, southern Baja California
AU - Brothers, Daniel
AU - Harding, Alistair
AU - Gonzlez-Fernndez, Antonio
AU - Holbrook, W. Steven
AU - Kent, Graham
AU - Driscoll, Neal
AU - Fletcher, John
AU - Lizarralde, Dan
AU - Umhoefer, Paul
AU - Axen, Gary
PY - 2012/5/1
Y1 - 2012/5/1
N2 - Subduction of the Farallon plate beneath northwestern Mexico stalled by ∼12 Ma when the Pacific-Farallon spreading-ridge approached the subduction zone. Coupling between remnant slab and the overriding North American plate played an important role in the capture of the Baja California (BC) microplate by the Pacific Plate. Active-source seismic reflection and wide-angle seismic refraction profiles across southwestern BC (∼24.5N) are used to image the extent of remnant slab and study its impact on the overriding plate. We infer that the hot, buoyant slab detached ∼40 km landward of the fossil trench. Isostatic rebound following slab detachment uplifted the margin and exposed the Magdalena Shelf to wave-base erosion. Subsequent cooling, subsidence and transtensional opening along the shelf (starting ∼8 Ma) starved the fossil trench of terrigenous sediment input. Slab detachment and the resultant rebound of the margin provide a mechanism for rapid uplift and exhumation of forearc subduction complexes.
AB - Subduction of the Farallon plate beneath northwestern Mexico stalled by ∼12 Ma when the Pacific-Farallon spreading-ridge approached the subduction zone. Coupling between remnant slab and the overriding North American plate played an important role in the capture of the Baja California (BC) microplate by the Pacific Plate. Active-source seismic reflection and wide-angle seismic refraction profiles across southwestern BC (∼24.5N) are used to image the extent of remnant slab and study its impact on the overriding plate. We infer that the hot, buoyant slab detached ∼40 km landward of the fossil trench. Isostatic rebound following slab detachment uplifted the margin and exposed the Magdalena Shelf to wave-base erosion. Subsequent cooling, subsidence and transtensional opening along the shelf (starting ∼8 Ma) starved the fossil trench of terrigenous sediment input. Slab detachment and the resultant rebound of the margin provide a mechanism for rapid uplift and exhumation of forearc subduction complexes.
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U2 - 10.1029/2011GL050828
DO - 10.1029/2011GL050828
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84861140689
SN - 0094-8276
VL - 39
JO - Geophysical Research Letters
JF - Geophysical Research Letters
IS - 9
M1 - L09307
ER -